The Connell and Woodham-Smith papers contain similarities and differences regarding cause and effect of the Irish potato famine of the 19th century. the 19th century. Woodham-Smith tends to place more blame on English lords and landowners. It examines the effects of the famine in Ireland and how relief efforts were mismanaged by the English elite. On the other hand, Connell places more blame on the Irish's reliance on the crop. He questions why the Irish were so dependent on potatoes and then examines how this addiction caused the famine. This is not to say that Woodham-Smith is totally unaware of the importance of potatoes in Ireland or that Connell believes that the English presence in Ireland is irrelevant to the plight. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayConnell argues that the potato, although a monotonous diet, combined with milk, kept the Irish well nourished and strengthened. The introduction of the potato into Irish society allowed previously undernourished people to be fully satisfied. This led to a healthier and more fertile society. Potatoes required less land and less labor to produce a successful crop. While most other crops require a large amount of land to be fruitful, potatoes have enabled smaller farms, allowing more families to rent smaller plots of land. Because the potato left the Irish well-fed and perhaps more fertile and made it possible to operate smaller farms, the Irish, who had previously postponed marriage until their thirties, were able to marry more young people and produce and support more children for longer. period of time. The increase in population due to the reasons previously discussed caused the Irish population to increase with astonishing vigor, perhaps at a rate of 172% or more between 1779 and 1841. The rapid population growth was most likely caused by a glut of births and not as many. deaths partly due to the fact that the Irish diet of milk and potatoes made the Irish healthier than before. The Irish's heavy reliance on potatoes left them unprepared to face famine or other sources of food. They did not have the resources to prepare other forms of food as they were used to preparing their meals with just a pot and a fire, there were no ovens to prepare grain-based foods; they had neither mills to grind grain, nor stomachs to digest it. All these reasons and more, says Connell, were responsible for the severity of the famine and the inability of the English to help ordinary Irish people. Famine was inevitably accompanied by disease and death, a statewide epidemic that could not be contained by those who held power in England. With an overabundant population, the Irish had no fighting chance. Connell states: “But no government could have contained the famine: given the dominance of the potato, such a disaster was almost inevitable; given population growth, the more it has been delayed, the more malicious it must be” (p. 66). Woodham-Smith, unlike Connell, places the blame more firmly on the English elite who.